In 2010, globetrotting travel writers Lara Dunston and Terence Carter, in partnership with
HomeAway Holiday-Rentals, will trade hotel rooms for holiday homes as they embark on a contemporary grand tour of the globe. They’ll be travelling slowly, living like locals, doing and learning things, and giving something back at each destination they visit. Their mission is to explore more enriching and authentic ways of travelling, and make travel more meaningful and more memorable.
Previously in: Austin, Texas, USA
Currently in: Mexico City, Mexico
Next: To be announced!
© 2009–2010 Terence Carter & Lara Dunston. All rights reserved.
THE PROJECT
Grantourismo
12 months, 24 destinations, countless experiences
In 2010, globetrotting travel writers Terence Carter and Lara Dunston, with the support of HomeAway Holiday-Rentals, will swap hotel rooms for holiday homes and embark on a contemporary grand tour of sorts they’re calling Grantourismo. Their aim is to slow down, learn and do things, live like locals, and give something back to the places they visit, as they search for a more authentic and enriching way to travel.How it began
For Lara and Terence, ‘grantourismo’ or ‘grand touring’ is the style of travelling they’ve been practicing since January 2006, when, with a slew of guidebooks and travel articles under their belts and a year’s worth of commissions lined up, the husband-and-wife writer and photographer team embarked on a one-year travel experiment. Putting their worldly possessions into storage in Dubai, Lara and Terence took to the road to live out of their suitcases so they could bounce around the planet from project to project. Their aims were to find out whether they could make lucrative careers out of travel writing and photography, whether their marriage could survive the challenges of life on the road, and to write a book about their experiences. Following one-too-many offers that were all too good to refuse – from researching spas in Thailand to writing a book on Buenos Aires – the couple were still on the road four years later when Lara responded to a media alert from HomeAway Holiday-Rentals seeking travel writers for an exciting project. It was Terence and Lara’s long-term travel experience and freedom to move as much as their portfolio that made them the ideal candidates for the yearlong, round-the-world adventure HomeAway Holiday-Rentals had in mind – serendipitously, it was to be a trip very similar to the contemporary grand tour the couple had been dreaming about…Grantourismo, The Grand Tour and Experiential Travel
For Lara and Terence, the original idea of The Grand Tour, a slow, extended journey aimed at learning about the local culture, arts, language, and people of the places the grand tourists travelled to, has always been appealing. In an earlier incarnation, Grantourismo was a blog the couple wrote for lifestyle and shopping site Charles and Marie, in which they reported on the discoveries they made on their travels – from stylish boutique hotels to chic shops specializing in bespoke products. After taking a sabbatical from the blog, Lara and Terence began to think about how they might take the concept of ‘grantourismo’ or ‘grand touring’ a whole lot further – and give it a contemporary twist. Like the original grand tourists, Lara and Terence wanted to undertake a more experiential style of extended travel. Terence has a passion for cooking and there are still a few musical instruments he hasn’t yet mastered. Lara has dabbled in everything from bellydancing to badminton. The couple are up for (almost!) anything and have tried their hands at all kinds of things from learning how to train elephants in Thailand to Terry playing at Master Chef in a Michelin-starred restaurant kitchen in Mallorca. At each place they visit, they endeavour to learn some of the language. Their original plan was to embark upon a year-long trip involving a month in each place within which time they would attempt to learn as much of the language that they could and a number of skills unique to the place – and then write a book about the experience. While they’ve scaled back their ambitions for the HomeAway Holiday-Rentals project, their aims are still the same – they are going to learn the language basics of each destination, and learn at least one skill unique to the place they’re visiting. All ideas welcome!Slow Travel and Sustainable Travel
Terence and Lara have called over a thousand hotel rooms around the world their home during the last four years, checking in and out of new hotels every day or two as they’ve bounced around the planet from one assignment to another. Nobody knows hotels like these globetrotters do. But while they love the luxury and attentive service of a five-star, the charm and character of a boutique place, and the chance to unwind at a laidback beach resort, at every opportunity, the couple have been quick to trade their swipe cards for door keys and check into a rental property for a month or two. While working on projects in Antwerp, Brussels, Amsterdam, Krakov, Buenos Aires, Milan, Darwin, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Perth, and Palma de Mallorca, Lara and Terence rented properties – everything from a rustic old city apartment in Palma to a breezy tropical garden villa in Darwin. The contrast between hotels and holiday rental accommodation couldn’t be greater. The chance to really slow down and kick back at a holiday rental is the obvious advantage. There are no breakfast buffet times to wake for, no need to lay your towel down on a sun bed at dawn, no cocktails to scramble to, and no need to worry about when the kitchen closes. In a holiday rental you can do your own thing anytime, anywhere and take your time about it. By travelling more slowly, travellers are also travelling more sustainably – from taking the time to discover local markets and small neighbourhood businesses to shop at instead of the first tourist traps spotted on the street, to choosing to buy and cook local produce instead of expensive imported products. Not only is this kind of slow travel more sustainable, travellers are also able to learn how to live like locals. That’s going to be another of Terence and Lara’s key aims.Living like locals
One of the things that Lara and Terence love about renting properties when they travel is the opportunity they afford to travel more authentically by meeting, learning about and living like locals. Whether it’s the regular exchange of greetings with neighbours in the corridor or small talk each day with the owner of the corner grocery shop that develops into meaningful conversation, there’s a sense of community to be tasted from such small interactions and special insights into places and their people that can rarely be experienced when staying at a hotel. Such encounters enable travellers to befriend local people or at the very least get great local recommendations and enable travellers to learn to live like locals – a wonderful thing at a time when so many travel experiences are manufactured and mass produced, and globalisation has meant that hotels, attractions, restaurants, and even food and drink, are starting to look, feel and taste the same all around the world. At each destination Lara and Terence will use their holiday homes to learn to live like locals. Their aim will be to identify the most ‘local’ places they can, from the bars and restaurants locals frequent to the markets where locals do their shopping. Lara and Terence will not only share these with you, but they’ll welcome your own tips. Bring them on!Voluntourism
Travel, especially holidays, can often be very self-indulgent, focused on unwinding and relaxing, sleeping and reading, eating and drinking, and, increasingly, pampering at a retreat or spa. However, in recent years, a growing travel trend has been voluntourism or volunteerism, the idea of travelling to a place to volunteer your time and energy, skills and labour, to help out at a charity, school, NGO, environmental organization and so on. The intention is to give something back, rather than just take away. Unfortunately so many of the volunteer experiences around are long term, from six weeks to six months, even a year, yet not everyone is able to commit to such a lengthy period of time. In 2010, Lara and Terence will be volunteering some of their own time at each destination they stay at to get a taste of a local volunteer experience to highlight on the Grantourismo blog, and they'll be seeking out short experiences, from one day to one week, that you can undertake as part of your holiday. Once again, suggestions as to charities and organizations they should cover will be welcomed!The itinerary
In January Lara and Terence, in partnership with HomeAway, will kickstart Grantourismo from Australia, where they're spending their planning time with family. On 1st February the couple will take off for their first holiday rental in Dubai, ironically their base for some years, which is why they’ll use their temporary home there to continue trip preparations before heading to London to officially launch the project with a party they’ll host in a property in HomeAway’s hometown (take a sneak preview of Lara and Terence's swish London 'home' here). Soon after, the couple will take off for their year of stays in holiday homes – everything from a chic apartment in Paris to a cone house in Puglia, a beach house in Florianopolis to a villa in Phuket – two weeks per destination, plus travelling time. They’re going slow, remember. Itinerary ideas will be sought from Grantourismo followers and trip details announced along the way. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or recommendations about any of the above or you just want to say hello, please leave a comment on a Grantourismo post, contact Lara and Terence by email (grantourismo@live.com), drop by the grantourismo twitter page (twitter.com/gran_tourismo), or visit the HomeAway project Facebook page.